In Nebraska’s Senate race, a Trump-supporting, anti-abortion pastor is running as a Democrat. The state’s Democratic Party — which is backing an independent candidate — says he’s a Republican plant. And another Democratic primary candidate says she’s running just to stop him.

The unusual dynamic has roiled the Senate contest in deep-red Nebraska, turning into a high-stakes test of Democrats’ unconventional strategy — skipping their own primary to back independent Dan Osborn, in their effort to defeat incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts.

Osborn can run straight to the general election without facing a primary.

William Forbes, a 79-year-old pastor from rural Nebraska, entered the Democratic primary just before the filing deadline in early March, upending a carefully coordinated plan by state Democrats to clear the field for Osborn.

To oppose Forbes, another candidate, Cindy Burbank, also filed at the last minute on the Democratic primary ticket but has had her candidacy challenged by the state Republican Party and Nebraska’s Republican secretary of state.

In an interview with CNN, Forbes said he’s voted for President Donald Trump in multiple elections but denied being a Republican plant, insisting that he’s a lifelong Democrat. Asked repeatedly to name a Democrat he voted for, Forbes grew frustrated and said the party needed to return to the “morality” it represented under President John F. Kennedy.

Asked why he decided to run as a Democrat in the Senate race, Forbes said, “I saw that there wasn’t any Democrat on the ticket. … I’m the only Democrat, and the Democrats are going for Dan Osborn.”

Forbes also told CNN that he attended a leadership summit in January sponsored by the Nebraska Republican Party. Asked why he chose to attend a GOP-sponsored event, Forbes said, “I’m trying to get information from everybody.”

“They want clones and I’m not a clone,” Forbes added. “I think for myself. I’m a free thinker.”

Forbes referenced the training session in a sermon recorded on video that had been posted to his since-deleted Facebook page and reviewed by CNN. Forbes posted a note recently announcing that he was deleting the page and encouraged people to continue to listen to his Sunday messages posted on his church’s Facebook page.

The Democratic primary is May 12.

The Democrats’ decision not to field a candidate stems from Osborn’s surprisingly competitive performance in 2024, when, running as an independent, he lost a closer-than-expected race to Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, who won by about 7 points in a state that Trump carried by roughly 20 points.

Now, two years later, Democrats are backing Osborn, hoping a unified challenger could put the seat in play. Democrats need to gain four seats to win control of the Senate next year.

If the Nebraska race is close, even a small number of votes could prove decisive, raising concerns among Democrats that Forbes’ candidacy could siphon support away from Osborn.

“He is running to trick voters,” Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb said in a statement, calling Forbes’ campaign a “political maneuver engineered by Pete Ricketts to split the opposition vote.”

Ricketts’ campaign denies the charge, telling CNN it had “no role in the Democratic primary.” In a text message, Nebraska Republican Party Chair Mary Jane Truemper told CNN, “We have no comment at this time.”

A Navy veteran and former union leader, Osborn is running on a populist, working-class message, blending support for labor and some abortion rights with backing for gun rights and tougher immigration enforcement. Osborn has said he won’t caucus with either party if elected. “That’s what being independent means,” Osborn said, according to a spokesperson for his campaign.

Democrats believe he gives them their best shot at unseating Ricketts. But Forbes, they say, threatens to unravel that strategy.

“If it’s a head-to-head, (Republicans) need someone to peel off the vote,” Kleeb told CNN.

Burbank, a Democrat who also filed in the primary on the last day, has been explicit about her intentions: She is not running to win, but to stop Forbes. She has said she plans to support Osborn in the general election and drop out if she wins the nomination. That candor nearly cost her a spot on the ballot.

Following a GOP complaint, Nebraska’s Republican secretary of state removed Burbank, ruling she was not a “good-faith” candidate because she’d pledged to support Osborn in the general election. A district court agreed. Burbank sued, and the Nebraska Supreme Court ultimately ordered her reinstated.

Kleeb told CNN the Democratic Party would spend money to back Burbank, whose campaign website contains screenshots claiming to be from Forbes’ since-deleted Facebook page, showing him attending a speech by Ricketts and anti-abortion events.

Forbes does not appear to have a campaign website or active campaign social media presence. His Federal Election Commission filing lists a UPS store in North Platte as his campaign address. A campaign number listed on the state’s filing page goes directly to voicemail.

“I’m working on a website now; it will be up soon,” Forbes told CNN, saying he wanted to wait and see what the Democratic Party would do.

Video of sermons from Forbes’ deleted Facebook page obtained by CNN reveal someone more traditionally aligned with conservative causes.

In one, Forbes described attending the daylong leadership training session in January that he said was sponsored by the Nebraska Republican Party. The event was run by the Leadership Institute, a conservative organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that trains Republican candidates, activists and campaign staff. Forbes told his congregation it was “naturally funded by the national GOP.”

In the same sermon, Forbes warned of “cultural Marxism” overtaking American institutions and attacked the Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street movements. In another sermon, he praised Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis and Kristi Noem for passing abortion restrictions.

One sermon from his Facebook blamed “radical feminism” and “left-wing media” for shaping public opinion on abortion, and in another Forbes said the country had entered an “era of lawlessness” driven by decisions like Roe v. Wade and the removal of religion from public life.

In another, Forbes called then-President Joe Biden, “dementia Joe.”

In his interview with CNN, Forbes grew frustrated when pressed on his voting history. “You’ve asked me who I voted for three times,” he said.

The last Democrat he says represented his values? John F. Kennedy. He told CNN the party needed to return to where it was in the 1950s and 1960s.